Words We Could Use

Here's what I've got for today: Susan Perry's recent post on positive, emotion-laden words you won't find in the English language. This is the opposite of Schadenfreude. Some of my favorites:

Schnapsidee (German): an ingenious plan one hatches while drunk.

Gökotta (Swedish): waking up early with the purpose of going outside to hear the first birds sing.

Iktsuarpok (Inuit): the anticipation one feels when waiting for someone, whereby one keeps going outside to check if they have arrived.

Gigil (Tagalog): the irresistible urge to pinch or squeeze someone because they are loved or cherished. (That is so real!)

Orenda (Wyandot Iroquoian): the power of the human will to change the world in the face of powerful forces, such as fate. (We need some more orenda these days.)

Perry provides a link to her source, the powerful lexicography project by Tim Lomas, a lecturer in positive psychology at the University of East London.